Talk:The Second Mrs Tanqueray

Plot quibbles
'... professional friends. All are upper class ...': 'upper-middle-class' is probably more accurate.

'he [Capt. Ardale] is the man who ruined her, years ago': this seems not to be supported by the text. When Paula and Ardale meet (again), Ardale asks her if her husband knows of their relationship, and she replies 'No. He knows about others.' She agrees that Ardale treated her fairly. In Act IV Mrs T tells her husband, 'Ardale and I once kept house together.' There's no suggestion that Paula was an innocent maid when she met Ardale, and that he seduced her and then abandoned her, thereby excluding her from polite society.

'When the daughter learns the reasons behind her disappointment she is struck with pity and makes a speech about trying again with her stepmother': this seems inaccurate. Ellean guesses what the relationship between Paula and Ardale had been, in part because she had always considered that Paula was not a 'good woman'. After finding Paula's body she tells Drummle that she had gone to Paula's room with the intention of apologising to her. There's no 'making a speech about trying again'. Snugglepuss (talk) 13:14, 11 May 2024 (UTC)